Animal Crossing: Save Our Town
by Musical.Melody014
Summary: Momoko Toyotomi is excited to be moving to Aniland. But when she arrives, she finds out that creating a new life is going to be harder than she thought. Between the Roost closing down, people moving out, festivals being canceled, and more, the town is in a lot of trouble! Is Momoko the one who will be able to save it all? I DO NOT OWN ANIMAL CROSSING OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS!
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

"**Chapter One: Arrival"**

"Aye, we be almost there, lassie!"

Momoko squealed happily, fidgeting around in her seat, and releasing her inner child. This was her first adventure out on her own. How exciting! She had been waiting for this moment her entire life: to get away from the extremely crowded city to move out on her own. Sure, Aniville (like a short, catchier name for "animal ville") was a little more on the rural side, but perhaps the country would have done her some good. After all, who doesn't love the breathtaking view of nature rejuvenating itself and everything at the brim of life? Indeed, Momoko's new chapter in life was definitely going to be an amazing adventure.

She gazed out the window of the sunshine yellow bus into the open. Beyond the curves of mountains the vehicle was traveling on, the ocean was shimmering as sunbeams embraced the gentle waters. There were a few clouds around, but the weatherman hadn't predicted anything about rain, so Momoko was not worried at all. She looked at the trees near the cliffs. They grew much taller than trees that were near the city. Then, not much farther ahead, was the outlining of a small town. Aniville.

The brown-haired girl with her hair in a two separate pigtails began to fidget around in delight again at the sight of her soon-to-be home. She began to wonder what kind of house she would get. Small or large? One-story or two-story? Where did she even want to live in the town? Near the town hall? Near the beach? The poor girl hadn't given much thought before about the specifics, and now wasn't good to suddenly think about it. She shrugged to herself and decided whatever was in her price range and looked decent would be fine with her.

The little frog that was driving the bus—yes, a frog!—spoke to the young traveler again. "You seem a wee bit enthusiastic there, kiddo," he commented with a gentle smile. "Would this be yar first time ye be on your own?"

Momoko nodded, returning the elderly animal's smile. She didn't mind him being an animal. In fact, she had grown up around animals and humans living side by side her entire life. Everywhere had this wonder of talking animals, though no one knew how the strange idea came in the first place.

"Yes, it sure is!" she chimed. Her voice was high-pitched, like a child's, and rang of the sound of happiness. "I'm not worried, however. This is going to be a fantastic new experience."

The frog nodded in agreement, then told the human girl, "Aye, 'tis true. If ye ever need assistance though, ye come running to me!"

Momoko laughed cheerfully and thanked the frog. The two of them began to talk the rest of the way there. Apparently, the driving frog's name was Kapp'n. He used to sail the seas as an explorer, so he told her. That explained the sailor-like accent he had on his words. He was happy to be able to help others by transporting them where they needed to go though, especially "when pretty lil' lasses are in need of help," or so claimed Kapp'n.

Another voice joined theirs about five miles away from Momoko's destination. A cute blue and white cat wearing a plaid sweater beamed at the driver and other passenger. He went by the name Rover. The girl smiled at the cat and introduced herself.

"So, I heard your going to Aniland? I have some friends over there, and they seem to give good reviews about the place," Rover stated. "I think you'll find a good life there."

"I sure hope so," Momoko replied simply. "I'm not too worried though. I mean, it shouldn't be _that_ hard, right?"

"Well, starting a new life is always a bit rough, but you're right. You'll be fine. Just make sure you have enough cash to cover your first house payment and other necessities."

Momoko reached inside her pocket and pulled out little to no money. Her giddy mood quickly dropped into a panic as she frantically searched for some loose change, fallen Bells, anything that would help her at least be able to afford buying her house. Where would she go if she couldn't buy her house? She'd have to live on the streets! How embarrassing and dangerous that would be! Rover's expression had changed too and began to look with the human girl for some money. No Bells were found at all, and Aniland was literally about thirty seconds away. What was the girl to do?

"Aniland! Aniland! We have arrived at Aniland!" Kapp'n hollered throughout the bus, even though Momoko was only rider other than Rover, and was the only one getting off at that stop.

Rover gave a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. You'll think of something," he assured.

Momoko gave him a weak smile and handed Kapp'n the last of her money for bus fare. She waved good-bye and stared up at the building labeled "Town Hall." She stumbled through the doors, trying to figure out what to do with the money issue. She couldn't hand over counterfeit Bells, otherwise she would be hated and thrown in jail. She couldn't pretend to have lost her savings, otherwise she wouldn't be permitted to buy the house.

As she sedately made her way to the counter, a perky pelican greeted her. "Oh, hello! My name is Pelly, and welcome to the town hall! You must be Momoko Toyotomi, correct?" she said, arranging some paperwork for the girl. Momoko nodded her head and began to fill out the papers. Pelly clapped in joy and waited patiently for the new resident to finish up. Then she added, "By the way, if you ever have a problem, want to make a donation, or want to send a letter to someone, then you can come to the town hall and me or my sister Phyllis will be able to be of your assistance. Just a warning, though... Phyllis can be a bit cranky sometimes." The pelican laughed softly to herself.

Suddenly, an elderly turtle appeared behind her and startled the girl out of her wits. He laughed and slowly walked over to the girl. His strict face returned immediately as he asked her, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Pelly threw herself into a sudden panic and raced over the the stumbling turtle and supported him. She explained, "Mr. Mayor, this is Momoko Toyotomi. She is the new resident in Aniland." Pelly turned to the human girl who was still anxious from being around the so-called "mayor" and smiled. "Momoko-san, this is Tortimor, the mayor of our humble village. He helps run festivals and special events."

Momoko hesitantly held out her hand, which in return the elderly tortoise grinned happily and shook the girl's hand. "It's nice to meet you!"

The girl shook her head in agreement and tried to smile as kindly as she could. Pelly helped lead Tortimer to his chair in the back and collected the paperwork Momoko signed. She thanked the new resident, then explaining to her that the town's store owned, Mr. Tom Nook, should be waiting outside to help her pick out a house. This made Momoko suddenly feel sick to her stomach. She knew she couldn't have avoided that moment, but she had hoped it wouldn't have come so quickly after her arrival.

The young girl thanked the mayor and his assistant before walking outside to come face to face with a raccoon about the same height as her. The raccoon smiled gleefully, as if he had known her for a long time, and shook hands. He introduced himself as Tom Nook: the most amazing entrepreneur in all of Aniland. Momoko simply returned his joyous expression and shook his hand as well. She struck a dramatic pose and introduced herself as Momoko Toyotomi: the most amazing human girl in the entire world. Tom Nook laughed slightly and shook his head, not buying her introduction.

He motioned her to follow him and told her, "Since you are just coming into the town, I suppose you're going to want to purchase a house, hmm?" Before she could ever answer the raccoon, he said, "Well, there are several empty houses, so I'll take you to all of them!"

Together, they marched throughout the town, observing several different houses. One house was a single story, and small. The roof was a green color, which was kind of weird, but pretty nonetheless. Inside, though, it looked like it had not been cleaned out in a while. Cockroaches crawled all over the floor causing Momoko to scream in terror. She immediately exited the house and she and Tom Nook continued. Another house was a little bigger, but barely by much, and had a yellow roof. The inside looked like an old dungeon, which wasn't appealing enough to the young girl. Moving on, the two of them reached a house by the ocean on top of a small hill that overlapped the sandy beach a few inches. The roof was a tinted blue color, although the interior looked a bit run-down. Momoko smiled brightly when this house was in view. The house could use a little love. Maybe, in time, it would become a beautiful and larger house.

"This is the one," she confirmed confidently.

"Excellent choice!" Tom Nook cheered. "Now, the total will come to about...19,800 Bells!"

Momoko's stomach dropped. That was much more than she expected, not to mention that she was still broke from when she first arrived in the town only about an hour ago. The little raccoon noticed her expression, yet kept his upbeat attitude up. He pat her head.

"Do not fret! If you do not have the correct amount of money, we can figure something out!" he assured her. Then, an idea popped into his mind. "Why not come work for me? Yes, that is a splendid idea! You can start immediately! Here, take this map"—he handed her a rolled up paper—"and come meet me at my shop in about an hour. It's only noon, so you have plenty of time to work! I must go prepare for your shift. Until then!"

The animal scampered off quickly to go prepare his shop. The whole time Momoko never got one word in, and now she had to go to her job. She sighed and walked into her new home, going up the stairs and into the cozy little bed that was already set up along with the lighting and a cute little radio (It was probably left behind by the previous owner, so Momoko thought.) that sat in a corner. A few minutes of rest would do her some good, especially since she had to begin working already.

The town sure had its own special way of welcoming a new arrival.


	2. Chapter 2: Delivery for Goldie!

**Chapter Two: Delivery for Goldie!**

Momoko woke up about two o'clock in the afternoon, realizing that she must have accidentally fallen asleep when she only wanted to just calm down. Wait, the time had been two o'clock? Her eyes seem to widen about three times the size they were supposed to be. Work started at one o'clock! Ripping off the covers, she dashed out of the room to go downstairs, but maybe rushing had not been the best idea. Not even three steps down, she tripped and wound up falling flat on her face. Still, she had to keep going. She had to show that she deserved that house, otherwise the town would have been nothing but an unreachable dream.

She stumbled while getting up, but managed to make it out the door. The light completely consumed her in contrast to her darkened bedroom, causing her to shield her eyes. The poor girl was still tired, but she had to keep moving for the sake of her future in that town.

Taking out her map, she looked for the symbol that represented the store, apparently known as Nook's Cranny. Oh, wasn't that a wonderful name? (Not really, considering the name means Nook's small space.) The map had explained to her that is was not very far; it was located in the center of the town. Also, the tailor was literally right next to it, so that worked out well if Momoko wanted to do all her shopping at once. She put her map back into her rucksack and began racing off to work once more, not focusing on anything else for that moment.

After about five minutes of racing down pathway after pathway, Momoko finally reached the wooden shack with the sign "Nook's Cranny." That had to be it. Slowly walking inside, she scanned the shop and hoped that the raccoon store owner wouldn't be upset with her.

"There you are! Where have you been for the last hour?" the animal shouted furiously.

Well, that was some wishful thinking, hoping he wouldn't be mad.

Momoko bowed her head. "I'm terribly sorry, sir! It's been such a stressful day, and I fell asleep in the bed upstairs," she clarified.

Nook sighed and rolled his eyes, saying, "Well, I guess it's better that you showed up only an hour late than completely ditching your work in total." He paused for a minute to pick up a dirty set of clothes. He added, "Please go change into this. It is your uniform and will officially define you as a worker of Nook's Cranny."

She smiled brightly and ran into the back room to change. It took all of thirty seconds to throw off her cake shirt (Yes, a Gracie original.) and dress in the uniform. The uniform was all gray, including the symbol for the shop that was on the shirt. It looked old and worn too. Still, it was better than nothing, so she put it on and walked back out to prove she was ready.

The store owner beamed at the sight of her, exclaiming that it was a perfect fit and that she looked beautiful. Momoko blushed slightly, ignoring his comment. He laughed and plopped several packages into her hands. "Your task is simple: deliver these to the proper addresses. No stopping to smell the roses though. Do your job then come straight back here, understand?" he ordered. "If you feel the need to, use the company bicycle."

Momoko nodded confidently and marched out of the store. The so-called company bicycle was chained next to the shack unoccupied, so she placed the packages in the basket and hopped onto the seat. Her first stop was to deliver a round carpet to some resident named Goldie. Taking out her map again, she found Goldie's house down the hill near the waterfall, and rode away.

On her way, however, the girl seemed to notice the town for the first time. There was little vegetation growing no matter where she looked. If there were any trees, they were half-way to the end of their lives. All if not most flowers were wilting. The pathways were quite faded, almost to the point where someone wouldn't be able to see them anymore. The empty houses were all beat-up, and some of the occupied houses weren't in the best shape either, although they were habitable. How come she hadn't noticed these things before? Had she been that distracted on moving and going to work that she completely tuned out the rest of the town? Apparently, that seemed to be the case. If she had noticed these traits before, would she have left immediately? No, of course not, but she probably would have had second thoughts about living in Aniland.

No. Her mind was made up. She already bought a house, got a job, and met some really nice people. Why would she want to give up when she had such a good start? She had to keep going, no matter how hard it had gotten. For that moment, though, she had to focus on making her deliveries.

Getting a little lost on the way, Momoko scanned her surroundings for Goldie's house. She reached the bottom of the waterfall to find a house with a sign in front labeled "Goldie's House." That must have been it, unless there was another Goldie.

Taking the fairly light package out of the basket, Momoko carried it under her arm to the front door. She knocked a few times, then waited for someone to answer. Nothing. She tried again. Still nothing. After five minutes, she heard a voice say, "Stop banging; I hear you! Come around back!"

Doing as told, Momoko went around the house to find a golden-brown puppy on its knees in front of a dying garden. Her face described one word: miserable. Momoko gasped audibly and ran over to her, almost dropping the carpet wrapped in its box.

"Are you okay?" Momoko asked, concerned.

"No, not really. Nothing is growing anymore. I've tried to create a beautiful garden so many times now, but nothing is working. I wonder if it's even worth it to try anymore...woof," she cried.

Momoko didn't exactly know how to comfort the sad puppy dog, so she handed the box and said, "Um, here is your package."

Goldie looked at it, almost entirely uninterested by the decorated box. "Oh, thanks." She took it from the human girl and slowly opened it to find the carpet neatly tucked inside. She sighed and placed the open box next to her. Her expression changed in an instant as she told the girl, "I'm sorry, woof. I don't even know you, and here I am complaining. My name is Goldie. I don't believe we've met before." She smiled for the first time and held out her paw.

Momoko gave a slight smile back and shook her hand with the dog's. "I'm Momoko Toyotomi. I just moved her earlier today. It's nice to meet you," she greeted.

"Wow, first day and you're already working? I see Mr. Nook got you too, woof," she laughed. "Let me guess...you couldn't pay off your rent that was due as soon as you bought the house."

"Yeah, exactly that. How did you know?"

"Mr. Nook makes everyone who can't pay off their first rent immediately work for him. Everyone thinks it's so he doesn't have to work as much and can sit around doing who-knows-what."

Momoko laughed, thinking of the raccoon doing something like watching soap operas on television, or playing a Wii gaming system. How funny would that be if it were true?

Goldie glanced back at her wilting garden. She didn't understand why it wouldn't grow. She gave it clean water, healthy soil, and plenty of sun. Was the ground just not fertile enough? Some flowers grew though. She was totally lost on what to do. Momoko was lost as well. She loved to garden, and she knew Goldie was doing all of the right things, so why wasn't this poor puppy's garden growing?

Momoko suddenly thought of something. She tugged on Goldie's shirt and pointed to the garden. "I think you're space is too small," she suggested. "It looks like it's only three feet by two feet, when you might want five feet by eight feet instead for raised flower beds."

Goldie raised her eyebrows, giving thought into that suggestion. "I always thought it needed to be small... That might be the problem! I'll try that!" She beamed at the kind human girl. If this girl was able to help her struggling garden, then that would have been absolutely amazing.

Momoko looked kindly at the cheerful dog and told her that she needed to finish the rest of her deliveries before she got in trouble. The young puppy understood and thanked the girl for assisting her in her small problem. With that, the bicycle was riding off to the next house.


	3. Chapter 3: Fishing Lessons

"**Chapter Three: Fishing Lessons"**

Momoko peddled her bicycle down the road, taking a few turns along the way. Again, she passed dead or close-to-dead vegetation and struggling buildings. She felt horrible for this town, and wished she could do something about it. She was useless though. The girl had no money, an empty house, and nothing else. What _could_ she do?

In the mean time, she stopped on the side of the road to check her map. Her next delivery was a fishing rod that was to go to a resident under the name Frobert. That certainly wasn't a common name, but Momoko guessed that was what made this person unique. She folded her map back up when she figured out where the house was—up the hill from Goldie's home. It was near the curve of the river—and got back to riding the bike.

When she was at the bottom of the hill, she realized this one was steeper than the last hill she rode down. Besides, going up was going to be more difficult than riding down anyway. She sighed and tried to peddle up the hill the best she could. However, halfway to the top, her foot slipped and the bicycle slipped backwards. The peddles suddenly were moving in the opposite way they were supposed to, and much faster.

_BAM!_

The next thing Momoko knew, the clouds were on the ground and the grass was in the sky. Her head was aching as if a weight had dropped from a three-story building onto her. The world spun for a minute or two. Or, was it three? Did it even matter how long? She tried to get up, but it was too painful for her. That had been the second time that day she got injured. She wondered how long she was forced to be idle.

"Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?"

Momoko couldn't see where the voice was coming from or who said it. Suddenly, her vision cleared up to see an adorable little frog worrying over her. He was in a complete shock at her. Momoko smiled reassuringly at him. "I'm okay. If you could help me up..." she trailed off, offering a shaky hand.

The little frog quickly grasped it and assisted the injured girl. She was about the same height as him, and she was a normal-sized human. The world around her still shook a little bit, but for the most part she would be okay. Smiling at the frog, she hugged him and thanked him for his kindness. After a minute, the frog's attitude made a U-turn and he became completely pumped. "You're so strong, being able to take a spill like that, fribbit! That's what this world needs: strong people! Not wimpy lilies who can't take a punch, fribbit!" he exclaimed.

Momoko laughed sheepishly. She had always been a clumsy child, so she had managed to injure herself in different ways, and out of those times, some were worse than sliding backwards down a hill and crashing head-first into a tree. Still, her fall down the hill _had_ been pretty painful...

She suddenly became worried about the packages she was supposed to be delivering, and recovered them from the pile of boxes that lied sprawled along the ground. They all seemed to be in pretty good shape, even though all of them were dented and crushed a bit. She just hoped the items inside were okay. It didn't matter how badly the packaging for each of the deliveries was.

Taking the one that was meant for Frobert, she held it out to the frog and asked him, "I need to get this to a resident named Frobert. Do you happen to know him?"

The little frog laughed loudly. "Know him? You're looking at him, fribbit!" he said, quite proudly. He made a dramatic pose, flexing his muscles, and added, "I am Frobert: a hero fighting for justice and super strong muscles!"

Momoko made a dramatic pose too, but pointed to the sky with her pointer finger on her right hand while she had her left hand on her hip. "I am Momoko Toyotomi: the super cool new resident of Aniland!" she exclaimed in the same fashion the frog made in his introduction.

Frobert chuckled to himself. "You need to work on it," he teased. "So you had something for me, huh, fribbit?"

Momoko nodded and handed over the long box. Frobert torn it open to find his new fishing rod inside, _unharmed_. A wave of relief swept over the girl. The little frog grinned at his new tool. He seemed to be happy with it, which was a good thing.

"Awesome! I've been waiting for this!" he cheered.

"You know how to fish?" questioned Momoko curiously.

Suddenly, he grew quiet, yet managed to choke out a "no". Momoko waited for him to say anything else, or be more clear, but there was nothing except silence.

"Don't worry, it's not that hard. Like you said, you got to be strong about these things! Don't become a wimp!" she urged him. "If you want, I could teach you."

Frobert's eyes widened at the words of this stranger. He asked if she had known how to fish, and she replied positively. She had learned as a little girl when she went into the forest home her dad owned every other weekend. (The poor girl's parents were divorced, so she switched back and forth between their houses.) There was a huge lake near the house that was home to thousands of fish, and since fishing was one of her dad's favorite hobbies, why couldn't she learn too?

The two of them walked over to the river a few yards away from the bottom of the hill and the ruined bike. Momoko took the fishing rod from the frog for a moment to show him how to fish. She pulled it back and paused to show him the position, then threw the line across the lake until the bobber was afloat and still. She made sure he was quiet, so the fish wouldn't be scared away.

They waited a minute. Then it became five minutes. Finally, after a total of seven minutes, a fish had hooked onto the bait, and it was time to reel it in.

"Okay, we want to retrieve it as quick as possible," instructed Momoko, "but keep the rod low as you reel the fish in, until the rod is horizontal." She rushed her words slightly as she tried to show through example while she talked. Once her rod was horizontal, she continued her directions, saying, "Now, we want to stop retrieving for a second, which gives the fish a chance to get a little slack, but we want to raise the rod again back into it's original, diagonal position. From here on out, we just repeat the process."

It took another few minutes, but Momoko presented her fishing lesson visually and did as she told herself to do. Frobert watched her in awe. She was a natural at this, and he, the so-called "hero of awesome muscles and abs," was entirely clueless on the subject. He observed her rod and line motions, taking mental notes. Soon, I'll be able to do this too, he thought.

Eventually, the fish was almost at the shore. The two could see it's shadow beneath the rippling water. Momoko dropped her rod a little and reeled in the fish, who was flopping around with the hook stuck in its mouth. As it washed up on the ground in front of her, she grabbed hold near the hook and presented the fish to her green friend. He laughed at it struggling to get free, encouraging it to break free like a football coach coaching his team for the Super Bowl.

The girl took her thumb and index finger to pinch the fish's mouth. Theories said that it temporarily paralyzed the fish, but Momoko did this to make it easier to remove the hook. She carefully maneuvered the hook out of the fish without causing harm to the creature.

"We're going to throw him back," she told the frog, who was clapping at her successful catch. "You always want to hold a fish like this to remove the hook, especially if you're going to release the fish. Never hold it by the eyes or gills."

"Understood, fribbit!" he said with an excited smile. "Can I try now?"

"Sure. Just remember what I told you, okay?" she replied, handing him back the fishing rod.

Frobert nodded and took his fishing rod, carefully throwing the line and bobber into the water. Momoko stood by in case he needed help (and to procrastinate on her other deliveries). One minute passed. Then two minutes passed. Five. Ten. Finally, the line was given a tug, startling the frog for a moment. He kept his rod low until horizontal, but forgot to lift it back up. Momoko shook her head and fixed his arms, re-explaining the step he missed. Frobert blushed for a second then regained his determination. Following the rest of the process, carefully, he made his first successful catch. The smile on his face seemed to brighten the entire area surrounding the two of them. He held the fish out to his friend.

"I caught it! I caught it!" he repeated over and over.

Momoko beamed. "Good job!" she said, taking the fish to remove the hook from its mouth. "What do you want to do with it?"

"I'm going to go home and cook it! Fish will make me even stronger!"

The girl shook her head and laughed. It _was_ his choice, but she thought that he would have wanted to keep it as a pet or something to remind him of his first catch. He caught a bluegill, so it would be okay to keep it as a pet, or she thought it would be alright. Normally, most salt-water fish would not be the best to have as a house pet. Again, it was his choice, so if Frobert wanted to eat the poor fish, so be it.

She sighed and fixed up the bicycle a bit. It wasn't able to have anyone ride it anymore, so she was just going to take it back to the store afterwords. She was just lucky that she could still have a job. Frobert frowned at her having to leave, but he waved good-bye.

"Come visit me anytime, okay? Except when I'm sleeping. I need to recharge every now and then too!" he joked. "Thanks for teaching me how to fish."

Momoko laughed. "It was no problem," she said, "and trust me, I won't. I need to sleep too, you know."

She waved good-bye as the frog went back to his fishing and dragged the bike back to the store, hoping she wouldn't be in too much trouble.


	4. Chapter 4: Meeting Bunnie

"**Chapter Four: Meeting Bunnie"**

Momoko strolled up to the store with the sign reading "Nook's Cranny," still worrying about how much trouble she would be in for ruining the company bicycle.Slowly, she tapped on the door and walked inside. She noticed the time on the clock read 4:37 PM. Oh, great, now it seems I spent two and a half hours to deliver four things, she thought to herself silently. Nook was sure to be annoyed, not to mention the last two deliveries were unsuccessful.

She had to give some wallpaper to a resident named Bunnie, but the girl—Momoko assumed that the name Bunnie would belong to a girl, which it did—was no where to be found. She left the package on the doorstep, but was that the best action? What if someone stole it? Then there would be even more punishment. _Oh, joy_.

The last delivery was for a resident named Maple. Momoko had no idea what it was, and she didn't get to find out since Maple was missing as well. Like she did with the box for Bunnie, she left the package on the doorstep, hoping no one except the animal who the package was for would take it.

Other than that, the walk to the store had been fine. She sneaked into the store to come face to face with an irritated Tom Nook. She smiled, trying to keep a poker face yet failed miserably. He shouted at her, "What took you so long?"

"Well, you see, after helping a golden retriever garden and a frog athlete learn how to fish, I accidentally demolished the bike. Oh, and the other two deliveries couldn't be made because no one was around, so I put the packages on the front step and hoped no one would take them."

Wow, how bad would it have been if she actually said that? Luckily, she didn't. Instead, she just shrugged and said, "I'm new to the town. Even with a map, you can't expect me to not get lost."

The raccoon rolled his eyes. He didn't believe it, but he started to calm himself down. However, that ultimately failed once he turned towards the window to see the ruined bicycle. He almost jumped ten feet at the sight, screaming in horror. "That cost me 5,000 Bells!" he cried. "How did that get ruined?" He spun his head around to Momoko and glared at her, automatically assuming it was her fault since she was the one who used it last.

She quickly held up her hands in defense. "I don't know! It was fine when I parked it out there!" she lied. Of course it wasn't fine when she put it out there.

Tom Nook shook his head again. He could have replaced it—maybe, hopefully, otherwise the situation would have become a lot worse than it already was—but the fact that it was destroyed broke his heart. Five thousand Bells down the drain...such a waste, and only to have had that bike for two months.

Either way, he had to give her more work. Her job was far from being over, and he didn't want to do the work himself. He thought he had enough to do around the shop, and being the delivery service and everything else would have worn him out. He shoved a couple of seed bags in her direction along with a shovel and told her to plant them around the shop to make it look more appealing. Momoko gave a nod of the head and quickly raced outside the shop to plant the flowers.

There were various patches of ground that had no grass growing, so planting the flowers there would be good spots. It would help cover the ground some more, and give it more vegetation. She decided on a larger spot first and opened up a hole in the ground with the shovel. Then, the seeds were placed carefully inside the hole, which was then covered up again by the dirt. One section down, about four more to go!

She continued to work; digging a small hole and then planting a bag of seeds, digging another hole, then planting the next bag of seeds. As she finished planting the third bag, a voice asked, "Excuse me, um, did you, like, leave this package on my front porch, tee-hee?"

Momoko turned her head to see a red-ish-colored bunny with a beige face and adorable eyes. She smiled and was wearing what seemed like a brand-new shirt. Momoko returned her smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm assisting Tom Nook, but you weren't home," she explained. "I hope it's okay that I left it on the step for you. No one touched it, right?"

The bunny shook her head. "The box was completely untouched," she assured.

That was a relief. At least she hadn't completely failed in her part-time work. Bunnie watched as Momoko struggled with the shovel for a moment before flipping the dirt into her face. The rabbit girl laughed slightly, seeing the soil all over the human's face. "Gardening can be, like, such a hassle sometimes, right, tee-hee?" she said to the human girl. "But it's always worth it in the end when all of the pretty flowers bloom!"

Momoko smiled, wiping the last of the dirt from her face. "Yeah. I've gardened before—in fact, this is the second time today—so I know what you mean," she agreed.

"Oh? Like, um, what do you mean this is the second time today?" Bunnie asked.

"Another resident here named Goldie needed help gardening, so I had helped her with that."

"Oh, Goldie! Yeah, she needs some help with things, but she's, like, such a fantastic friend!"

Momoko finished covering up the hole with the seeds and sighed. That had been he last bag, so that part of the job was finally done. She wiped her forehead and stood up. "Well, I got to get back to work," she told Bunnie sadly.

"Awwwh! Maybe see if you can get, um, a break or something?" she suggested hopefully. "We can stop at Brewster's for coffee or something."

"I wish, but cranky Nook probably won't let me," Momoko admitted, "especially after I ruined the company bicycle. He isn't that pleased with me right now."

"Awwwh, I'm sorry. Maybe after work then? Like, a super fun night out or something?" the rabbit offered. She really wanted to be able to hang out and meet the new girl in town, especially since the human girl was a potential friend.

Momoko thought for a minute before grinning and nodding her head. A nice night out after her job was over sounded nice. No stress. No work. Only fun with a new friend. What could be better? She agreed to Bunnie's idea and told her that she would be ready around seven later on. Bunnie beamed brightly and said her good-byes for the moment before skipping off happily, humming a cheerful tune. Momoko watched her leave before walking back inside to get yelled at again.


	5. Chapter 5: A Night Out

"**Chapter Five: A Night Out"**

The rest of the work day was boring. Nothing else had happened, except for the fact that several times that day it seemed like Nook was about to fire his worker. The clock struck five in the evening as Nook sighed. There was nothing else for Momoko to do. That was it. Her work was finally over. She couldn't be happier. Suddenly, her excitement drained quickly.

"Only 1,400 Bells?" she shouted.

"Yes. That means that you'll have to pay the other 18,400 Bells on your own," he explained as if talking to a child who could barely understand simple words.

Momoko sighed. Living in Aniville was certainly harder than she thought. What was she going to do to get money? She could sell some fruit. No, all of the fruit trees in the town were dead, except for maybe two or three. She could continue working for Nook. Absolutely not. She _hated_ working for the raccoon, barely withstanding a day with him. Not worrying about it at the moment, she nodded, turned in her uniform, and left.

On her way back to her home, Momoko heard someone scream, "Help!" She ran as fast as she could to find the source of the call. It grew louder and louder as she ran east (the opposite direction of her house). Finally, she found a pale brown-furred bear crying and squirming around in a hole in the ground. Momoko stared at her for a minute as the bear continued trying to escape the pitfall.

The bear noticed her standing there and called out to her, "Oh, you there! P-Please, can you help me, honey?"

Momoko realized she was staring and blushed out of embarrassment. Rushing over to the little teddy bear, she pulled her out of the ground with ease. The bear smiled and fell onto the solid, soft ground, relieved.

"Thank you sooo much, honey!" she thanked Momoko cheerfully. "This town has a few pranksters who think it's so funny to torment people like that."

"Are you okay?" Momoko asked.

"Yeah, my dress just a little soiled," she said. She paused for a moment. "No pun intended."

The human girl laughed, understanding the accidental joke. Cheesy jokes were always classic.

The bear held out her hand, and greeted, "My name is Maple, honey! I don't believe we've met."

"Nope, I just moved here today," Momoko told her with a smile. "I'm Momoko Toyotomi."

"Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise."

Maple returned her smile and offered Momoko to go over to her place for hot chocolate. The weather was getting colder as the autumn night started to set in at last. Almost about to accept the kind offer, she remember that Bunnie was excitedly waiting for their night out. Momoko had almost forgotten! Some friend she was turning out to be.

Momoko rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly saying, "Um, well, I'm actually going to this coffee shop or something with someone named Bunnie in a little bit."

"Bunnie invited you to Brewster's, honey?" Maple questioned. "Without me?"

"Apparently. I'm sorry!" She stopped speaking for a moment as she quickly thought of an idea. "Would you like to join us, Maple?"

A huge beaming grin pasted itself on Maple's face. "I can come? Really? That'd be sooo cool, honey! Thank you so much!"

"It's no problem. I'm sure Bunnie wouldn't mind, considering you two seem like you're friends."

"_Best_ friends."

"Okay, _best_ friends. My bad."

The two of them laughed in unison before waving each other off, waiting excitedly to see each other again soon.

Momoko looked at herself in her reflection in the window, since she didn't have an actual mirror to use just yet. She fixed her cake dress that she had been wearing earlier and decided she looked decent enough. After all, is was only Maple and Bunnie. Yes, they were new friends, but shouldn't they like her for being her, and not for her expensive clothing? Exactly.

She left about fifteen minutes earlier, giving her enough time to find Maple's house. The two of them had chose to walk to Brewster's together. Good thing though, considering Momoko had no idea whatsoever where this shop was. The map said nothing about it. Was it an underground shop? Like an illegal business? Why did both Bunnie and Maple want to go to an illegal business for a night out?

The young girl arrived at the adorable bear's house within ten minutes. She knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Almost immediately, the door burst open, hitting Momoko right in the face.

"Oh, my gosh! M-Momoko! Are you alright, honey?" Maple said in a panic.

Momoko rubbed her forehead. "Yeah," she replied shakily. "Just a bruise; nothing more."

"I'm soooo sorry, honey! I didn't realize you were _right_ behind the door."

"Really, I'm okay. Let's head over to this coffee shop or whatever it is."

Maple nodded, her cheerfulness reviving as fast as it had left a moment ago. She led the girl to the museum, which Momoko questioned curiously. Apparently, there was no illegal shop or anything like that. Brewster's was located inside the museum down the short flight of stairs. Momoko was relieved as soon as she heard that.

Down the stairs they went to see an energetic bunny run over to them at their arrival.

"You made it, Momoko!" Bunnie cheered. She turned to Maple to have her smile only get larger. "Maple! You're here too, tee-hee?"

"Of course," she replied. "I wanted to come see you guys too."

Bunnie hopped around happily. "Well, come on! Brewster here makes the best coffee!"

She led them over the the polished counter, where a pigeon was calmly cleaning some coffee cups. He looked up at them and gave a small nod of the head. Maple slammed her hand—er, paw?—on the table and ordered, "the usual," whatever that was. Brewster nodded again and set the cup he was cleaning down. He grabbed three cleaned mugs and set one of them each in front of the three friends. Maple watched him pour the coffee into each of the cups, licking her lips. According to her, this was the _absolute best_ coffee ever.

"Enjoy...coo," the pigeon said, returning to cleaning the dishes.

Bunnie and Maple simultaneously picked up their cups and drank their coffee. They sighed in amazement and chattered amongst themselves about how great it was. Momoko stared at hers for a minute before grabbing the handle and lifting the cup to her lips. Slowly, she drank it.

_Sweet!_

_Delicious!_

_Completely amazing!_  
>She consumed the rest of the drink in one slurp. How the flavors came together to form such a brew! The world should have a taste of the outstanding drink! The two animals next to Momoko laughed cheerfully at how much the human girl loved the beverage. They had a feeling she would have liked it.<p>

Brewster suddenly began to talk, which was odd for him because he was usually quiet, especially around new customers. "I hope you enjoyed that last brew," he mumbled before adding sadly, "because the Roost is closing, and there will be no more coffee in Aniland."

"_What?_" the three shouted at the same time.

"I can't get a hold of the ingredients for my fresh brew anymore, and even worse, I can't even afford them... The only solution is to close shop... You are my last customers."

"Brewster, no!" Bunnie cried. "You, like, can't close up, tee-hee!"

He shook his head sadly. "Coo...I wish I didn't have to..." he told her before collecting the cups and cleaning those, for the last time.

"There has to be another solution for this, honey," Maple declared.

"Miss Maple...I am sorry."

With those last words, he started to pack up the silverware, the coffee mugs, the java machine. It all was to be put away to become just a memory of the Roost. The three friends left the cafe, then the museum. Outside, the sat against the pillars of the large white building.

Bunnie stood up and kicked a rock that had been just sitting there in the fading grass. "This is, like, sooo ridiculous! First, the trees and flowers stop growing, then K.K. Slider won't, like, show up anymore," she yelled angrily, "and now the bestest coffee in the world is gone, tee-hee!"

Momoko put a hand on her shoulder. "Bunnie, calm down. We'll figure out a way to solve this," she assured her.

Bunnie sighed and began to walk away. She just kept walking, saying she was going home. Maple did the same, leaving Momoko alone in the night. Momoko looked up towards the sky. Suddenly, there was a stroke of light in the darkened sky. It appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye. A shooting star! Momoko looked down at the grass and clasped her hands together, her fingers interlocking with one another.

"This town is in trouble," she whispered. "Please help me...please help me save our town."


	6. Chapter 6: Fishing Tourney

"**Chapter Six: Fishing Tourney"**

_BAM! BAM! BAM!_

It had been a week after the depressing news at the Roost, and the small coffee shop was now closed. Momoko jumped up in her bed, suddenly waking up from the loud noise. Was someone at the door? But who would be at the door at eight in the morning? She sighed heavily and headed down the rickety stairs to see who was forcing her out of bed that early.

"Yo! The fishing tourney is today, fribbit!"

Momoko had opened the door to find an overly-ecstatic Frobert waiting for her, fishing pole in hand. Fishing tourney? The young girl assumed that was like some sort of competition for fishing, or something along those rules. She tried to stifle a yawn, but failed. It wasn't her fault she was tired!

The frog chuckled. "Did you just wake up or something, fribbit?" he asked.

"Yeah, because of your loud banging on the door," she accused him. Frobert looked down at the rocky pathway that led to her door. Momoko sighed, tired, and apologized, "I'm sorry, Frobert. I'm honestly just am not a morning person..."

He looked back up at her with a smile. "S'okay!" he chimed. "I just came to ask you something really quick."

Momoko tilted her head slightly. "Ask me what?" she questioned.

"Would you want to come to the fishing tourney with me?" he chimed. A grin formed on his face. "I've been working on those fishing skills you taught me."

Momoko laughed. "Oh, really now?" she sighed. "Well, I wish I could join you, but I don't have a fishing pole."

Frobert shook his head. "Hey, ol' Nook should have something for you!" he suggested.

Momoko looked away, worrying about going back there. Ever since she finished her part-time work there, she wanted to avoid seeing him as much as possible. They hadn't exactly started off on the right foot, and she was afraid of getting in even more trouble.

Frobert could read her expression clearly and nodded. "Y'know, even if you're afraid to go back there," he started, "you got to conquer that! Be a man! Er..._wo_man!"

Momoko laughed in agreement. She went inside to throw on some clothes she hadn't slept in, choosing a plain Dutch shirt, and reunited with Frobert outside. Together, they walked over to Tom Nook's store. The place was just as small and cramped as she remembered. At least there was a fishing pole in stock that day, unlike some days before. (She never knew why, but his stock of things changed every day. If he was rich enough to buy all that stuff, what happened that made him want to sell it all?)

She counted up exactly five hundred Bells and frowned. Buying the rod would take up half of the money she saved. It's for Frobert_,_ she reminded herself silently.

Nook trotted over to the two customers and grinned happily. "Welcome, welcome! Please take a look around," he chimed. His eyes moved over and spotted Momoko and narrowed. "You know, you should be using that money to pay off all of that money you owe me..."

Momoko stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed the fishing pole. "This will be all, _please_," she said coldly, emphasizing her "please" in disgust at the raccoon.

He took the five hundred Bells and tossed her the rod before walking towards some other merchandise to take care of them. Momoko huffed before stomping out of the run-down shop, fishing pole in hand. Frobert ran up to her, matching her walking pace.

"See, fribbit? That wasn't too bad," he tried assuring her.

"The stupid raccoon hates me," Momoko mumbled angrily. What a way to start out a morning!

Eventually, the two had reached the town hall where Frobert said they would meet up with Chip, the friendly fish-loving beaver that assisted in running the fishing tourney, and stood within a small crowd of people...angry people.

The animals from the town were shouting angrily at the elderly turtle that stood in front of the office building, his weight shifted onto his cane. The upset yells and cries from the crowd made him tremble with a building annoyance. After another half of a minute, the mayor exploded, "ALRIGHT! SHUSH YOUR MOUTHS!" The crowd went silent at their mayor's outburst. His scream took nearly all of the breath out of him. It took another minute for him to regain the proper amount of oxygen he needed, but soon enough, he was laughing as usual. "Yes, it is unfortunate Chip isn't coming today. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to close the fishing tourney for this week..."

Momoko turned to the little frog next to her whose mouth was agape and had heartbreak in his eyes. "Who is Chip?" she asked him.

"He judges the fishing tourney...but with no judge, there's no tourney..." he answered solemnly.

They couldn't continue the fishing tourney because they didn't have a silly judge? Why couldn't someone else be the judge then? Not the mayor... He seemed to be a tad unfit to be a judge. Couldn't anybody else do it then? It would have been such a shame to cancel such a fun event because some guy decided to not show up. What was the deal with that anyway? Momoko sighed and marched up to the front of the crowd.

_Well, if no one else is going to do this..._

"I'll be the judge," she declared.

Everyone looked at her as if asking, "Are you serious?" She didn't face them. She only smiled warmly at the mayor waiting to see what his opinion on that was. The elderly turtle grinned that grin of his and nodded his head.

"Interesting," he said. He inspected her for one last moment before shouting to the crowd, "We have out judge! Let the fishing tourney begin!"

****Author's Note****

**Heh. Wow. Almost a year, huh? It's been that long since an update on anything? And not only that, I give a much shorter chapter? Yeah... I'm so sorry, things have been busy, and I may have kind of sort of possibly maybe definitely lost all motivation to continue writing this story until suddenly. :I But look! Here it is! And I'm going to update EVEN MORE! Yaaaay~! Anyway, that's all! Hope you enjoyed!**

**(Just a reminder I felt I should put here even though it's in the description: I own nothing of Animal Crossing ;u; )**


	7. Chapter 7: A Little Different

"**Chapter Seven: A Little Different"**

Everyone was murmuring amongst the crowd. A new judge? Was the mayor serious? Was this girl serious? Momoko was still new to the town. Even with her experiences up until that moment, she had no idea how to run Aniland's fishing tourney. That was Chip's job, but he didn't even bother to show up. What had happened to him? Did he forget? He never forgot before. He said he loved coming to the town.

Maybe he just didn't want to show up to an old, beat-up town.

Whatever the reason, Momoko wasn't going to sit by idly and let everyone be disappointed. They were going through so much already. The only question was how to run the tourney. How did the judge before run it? She thought for a moment while the animals were summing up their thoughts on the situation. She didn't have much time to think, but it didn't take her long to come up with a plan.

"Don't worry," she at last shouted towards the animals trying to sound reassuring. They all turned their attention toward her, their gaze unsure. "I know it's weird for someone so new to town to judge, especially with me being human, but please, I can do this. I'm not new to fishing. Besides, what's wrong with changing things up a bit? Let's do things a little different this time. The winners will be based . We'll have first, second, and third place winners. After the competition, we'll take everything you all catch and fry them up for the big party afterward! Now, what do you say? Let's go out there, have some fun, and catch some fish!"

The animals nodded and started to lighten up. Many even started to cheer. Momoko smiled, seeing as her plan was a success.

Frobert ran up to her and beamed. "Dude, nice speech there," he complimented. "Are you sure you can handle being judge though, fribbit? I hear it's a tough job."

Momoko waved her hand. "Pssh, it's all good," she scoffed, smiling at him. "I could do this blindfolded with my hands behind my back. I'm more worried about assembling the party."

"Wait, you mean you were serious about a party? And you just came up with that?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

She thought she was pretty stupid to think she could judge and put together a party at the same time, but it just came out. It really seemed to put the town in a better mood though. Momoko looked out to see many of them by the river, trying to catch something. _It'll be alright. You can do this_, she thought to herself.

"Well, then, I pronounce myself as co-judge, fribbit!" Frobert shouted.

The human girl's eyes widened. "What?" she questioned before shaking her head. "No, please, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You came here to fish, so go fish."

"I might a little later," he said, looking over to the river. He held his gaze on the water and animals fishing for a moment before turning back to Momoko grinning. "For now though, it's my job to help you out. It's what best buds do. We'll be so _awesome_, fribbit! We'll be the best judges ever! Man, I'm getting myself pumped already!"

Momoko couldn't help but laugh. Frobert could get himself over excited at times, but he was a good friend nonetheless. Also, it was no use trying to get rid of him at that point. He was too ecstatic to go. She could use the help with so much to do anyway, so at last she nodded and surrendered to having him be co-judge with her.

The rest of the day, the two of them sat there in front of town hall coming up with ideas for the party and judging fish. There were a lot of bass, most of them the typical size as well. There were some other cool fish too. It was toward the end that Frobert and Momoko knew they found the first place winner.

Goldie walked up and smiled to them. "Here, this is what I caught, woof," she said and held out a giant fish. "I don't know what kind it is, but I got it in the river."

Momoko took the fish and held it for a moment. Her eyes were wide as she scanned over the fish, who was barely breathing at that point. "Oh, my gosh, Goldie," she started, still looking over the fish. Yes, it was exactly what she thought it was. Goldie had found this in the river?! That was a lucky catch of hers! "This is an Arapaima. They're extremely rare to, especially one this size." She put the fish in the large cooler next to her.

Goldie gasped. "Like, really? I caught a rare fish, woof?!" she chimed. Her eyes were aglow with wonder and excitement. It was obvious that this was new to her. Momoko laughed and smiled, giving the little dog a thumbs up for a job well done.

Goldie jumped up and down clapping her hands before running off to fish some more, cheering that she caught a rare fish. Frobert laughed as he watched the golden dog run off.

"Someone sure is excited, fribbit," he commented, turning to Momoko. "She's going to win, isn't she?"

She shook her head at him with a grin. "I can't promise anything," she said, "but I'll admit she has a good chance."

"Come on, fribbit! She's had the biggest and rarest one all day! She's definitely going to win!"

"As a judge, you can't just pick what lands at your feet. Things could change. I told you this before when Bunnie brought over that giant pop-eyed goldfish, remember?"

"Fine, whatever you say, fribbit. I still think Goldie is going to win."

After another hour, the tourney was over, and in the end, Goldie _did _win first prize with Bunnie in second and someone named Roald came in third. The only thing left was the party, which Momoko and Frobert had been planning all day.

Between collecting the fish and judging the winners, the two set up some picnic tables outside the town hall where they were. They placed some table cloths over them that had underwater designs, and then started to set the table with cute plates and napkins, and of course silverware. After setting up the area, Frobert suggested some decorations—just a few—to make the scene more festive. After all, it was a festival. Momoko agreed, and so there were some streamers hanging about with some balloons and lanterns. It took all day and a lot of running back and forth, but it was worth it in the end, and the place looked amazing. Momoko was grateful that Frobert had stayed to help her, otherwise she never would have been able to set everything up.

Animals started to seat themselves, talking about their catches for the day and other things going on in their daily lives. Momoko was busy at the barbeque grill frying up the fish cooking anything the animals were hungry for. Eventually, everyone was served.

"Hey, I heard there was a party going on in this crib."

Everyone turned their heads to see a white dog with a guitar strapped to his back.

"K.K.! Is that really you?!" everyone except Momoko chimed in unison.

"Man, of course it is. Who else could it be?"

"You haven't come here in, like, _forever_, honey!" Maple exclaimed in shock. "What made you want to, like, come back?"

"Well, a cool cat by the name of Momoko called me up and said to stop on by."

The town turned to look at Momoko in utter surprise. Had she seriously gotten K.K. Slider to come back?! The human girl smiled and waved at the crowd, not knowing what they were talking about since she had occupied her attention with something else for the moment. Everyone cheered and ran over to her giving her hugs, high-fives, and praise.

K.K. Slider turned toward the mayor. "Hey, rumor has it The Roost shut down... Is that true?" he asked him curiously.

The elderly turtle nodded and sighed, "It's a shame. Brewster was the best, and the ol' coffee place got some great business. Lately it seems this entire town has been going downhill though."

The crowd had finally dispersed from Momoko and went back to the tables, eating the fish that had been caught and cooked. The mayor and the white dog laughed to themselves.

"That girl is something special, isn't she?" K.K. Slider stated.

Tortimer laughed again and nodded. "Heh, heh, horf! She certainly is. She could be the very one to save this town," he admitted.

"Let's start with where I hold my weekly gigs, man."

The mayor looked at him confused. The Roost? How could he help that?

The white dog grinned and stepped up to the crowd. "Tomorrow I'll be coming back to this town at five P.M. for a special performance! We're going to raise some Bells for the return of The Roost! If we get enough money, I'll even come back every Saturday to hold my usual performances. I'd love all of you to come. Make a difference in your community. That's all I have to say, so for now though, let's jam to some tunes."

K.K. finished his announcement and pulled his guitar from his back, strumming the first few notes of "Forest Life".


End file.
